Vir Rex
by Hollowshirosaki413
Summary: King Kurosaki was a man known for his pride and kindness within his surrounding villages. He would often take visits out to see how things were faring with his people, occasionally to stop by and speak with some of his acquaintances – there say, friends. This time it was only meant to sharpen his sword, but in the end he's receiving a lot more than he wagered. Full summary inside!
1. Chapter 1

Title: Vir Rex

Author: D.R. Ward

Date: 7-6-13

Age: 13

Summary: King Kurosaki was a man known for his pride and kindness within his surrounding villages. He would often take visits out to see how things were faring with his people, occasionally to stop by and speak with some of his aquaintences – there say, friends. However this time it was only meant to be to sharpen his sword at the expense of his childhood friend and Blacksmith, Grimmjow, and he realized not long after that he had possibly stumbled upon a strange traveler with skills that could parry him. And what was Ichigo to do but to act on his impulses?

A\N: Well there you go. This is the first chapter of my new series 'Vir Rex', which is roughly a Latin derivation for the English term 'A Man of a King.' Mind you, this is Google Translate, here. I'm not that talented. xD Anyway, I hope you enjoy the first chapter, and I'll see you guys soon!

Vir Rex  
_Third Person POV_

The sound of hooves clattering against the extremely cold ground rattled the very veins of the freezing soldiers as they watched the noblemen pass by. Many upon many, riding the vastest variety of warhorses, were adorned in seemingly heavy armor as it glistened with the freshly falling snow that belonged to mid-winter. As the warriors behind the king watched for any threats, the young lord was happily humming as he viewed the area around him. All seemed quite happy with the man's arrival, which proved to warm the kind man's heart – if only a little. But the night was young and there was much to do before the morning came, so without dwindling around the small village and speaking to his fellow people, King Kurosaki made his way towards the Blacksmith's shop.

The lowest of peasants bowed their heads at the huge Shire horse bounded by, muscular and thick as the winter had forced the animals in to. Kurosaki couldn't help but feel a bit perturbed that in this time people still needed to bow their heads when he had arrived – it was a sign of respect, yes, but it also wasn't exactly what Ichigo had wanted as a formality of a king. Sure, he wanted to be known, but as a considerate man like himself thought, there was no need to do such a thing.

"That will be 15 pence, sir. Would you like this fine piece of weaponry – ah, Lord Kurosaki, good morrow(1)! Welcome ye back!" The Blacksmith had interrupted his dealings with the strange looking man as Ichigo had neared. The young king grinned and nodded his head as he slowed his pride horse, Zangestu, to a stop. His soldiers had followed not long after.

"Hello, Grimmjow." The vibrant man had waved his leather bound hand, armor clanking as the muscles in his arm were forced to move. His friend had grinned but held up a hand to ward the king off a few seconds as he dealt with the man. Ichigo calmly noted the man was in the middle of business and knew he had to wait.

This gave Ichigo time to inspect the other's dealer. As mocha brown eyes scanned the man before him, who was just being handed one of the finest swords that the blue-haired Blacksmith had to offer for the littlest amount, he realized that the man was no short of beautiful – and a bit scary. He had noted that the young man that was working with Grimmjow was stern and still lithe, as if he too had not reached maturity. Like Ichigo, this albino didn't look a day over twenty and one years of age. Some would probably, without a doubt, corner the swordsman with questions about his skin and call him a warlock and probably harm him, the king took into consideration, as he watched the albino converse with the bluenette.

Ichigo's helmeted head was twisted slightly as he watched the albino lift the sword and gaze at it longingly. He had not yet addressed the king, which was quite odd, but he had nothing to say in the end. He could not see the man's face either, but the alabaster skin was enough to prove that he was a strange man indeed. The dealer also looked like he had plenty of rippling muscles on whatever he had to call clothing, which wasn't much, even within the winter months. Though the man didn't even shiver. This caused the king to become a bit perturbed, but alas, he kept his thoughts silent.

"Grammarcy(2), Grimm. I'll see ya aroun', ne?" That was the first sentence that came out of the wondrous man's lips.

King Kurosaki froze. He hadn't let his jaw drop out of sheer restraint, but the seductive, low, and watery voice that had just spoken caused Ichigo to be no short of stunned. He could not understand how someone could have such a beautiful voice. It was a husky type that Kurosaki had always lived to hear, which was also extremely rare to come across when it came down to the factor.

"Sire, how fare thee? Alright?" one of the soldiers asked quietly.

King Kurosaki nodded. After a second of silence he spoke. "Who be you?" Was the first thought that came to mind.

As the muscular man turned, Ichigo was once again left breathless.

Eyes of the purest yet sinful yellow were glistening with humor as a sclera surrounded in black almost ate up Kurosaki's vision. The dealer that had caught his attention had sharp, forceful features, and a tri-scar of that seemed like an animal ran from his forehead all the way down to his right cheek – past his eye. Ichigo's hands tightened along the reins of his horse slightly.

"Shirosaki Ogichi Hichigo, M'Lord." That voice spoke again.

Ichigo watched as the albino now dubbed as Shirosaki twisted the sword in his hands once, twice, thrice as he finally placed it in the leather belt that appeared beaten and worn. The hand that had held the sword was now resting at its hilt in a cocky manner. The Blacksmith, Grimmjow, rolled his eyes at the sheer amount of showing off of his friend. Ichigo had simply stared in question.

"Shirosaki, is it…?" murmured the young king once. He liked the sound of that rolling off of his tongue. "Could you please wait a moment while I deal with Sir Grimmjow? I would like to speak to you." Against all of his will that told him he should not even speak to the peasant, Ichigo smiled.

"Whateva' fer?" An accent that Ichigo was unaware of drifted throughout the brisk, chilly air. Kurosaki had clicked his tongue in humor not long after. It looked as if Hichigo had caught up on this movement and raised a surprisingly pale, thin brow in question.

"You shall know in a second. However…." Ichigo found himself lifting his left leg over his right as the armor clashed again, which proved annoying to the noblemen's' ears. The orangette had jumped off of his large horse with little effort and walked in the general direction of the two, strewn hay and miniscule pebbles doing nothing to his hardened step while he walked. When the king was drawn to a stop he grinned at his friend, Grimmjow, and pressed his free hand against the hilt of his sword to draw it. Tensa Zangetsu hummed at the attention he was getting as the sword he had grown to love was taken out of its holster and handed to the muscular bluenette. His guards stood await for their king to be finished.

Tensa was drawn from the young orangette's grasp as it was then taken into Grimmjow's. The tanned warrior nodded. "I trust you know what to do with this?"

"A course, King." Grimmjow replied with a smirk like no other – huge and ear-splitting – if not a little bit insane. But Kurosaki only rolled his eyes slightly and, while Grimmjow moved into the back room to begin refining the sword, glanced back at the same man he had previously spoken to. When bright orange eyes met with smoldering yellow, a shiver dispersed all the way down the young lord's spine.

"I believe I have some matters that I would like to discuss with you, if it's not too much trouble."

"A course not, M'Lord." Shirosaki leaned back onto his haunches, a playful smirk twitching on his features as he stared back at the man before him. Ichigo nodded softly when a blush fooled around at the corners of his face.

A cough passed through the chilly air. King Kurosaki stared back in awe at the attractive man for a couple of seconds, wondering how someone could possibly be as beautiful as that man before him, but all words left him and the only thing he was able to do was offer this proposition. However, he would need to ask something first. Of course, asking in movements.

"Wohlgemerkt, wenn wir holm? (Mind if we spar?)" Ichigo was sure to speak only in a language that Grimmjow and – more accurately, this man would understand. He noted that the albino was a little shocked when the language he spoke pooled out of his mouth. It was either that, or the fact that the king had asked the man to spar with him.

"Ich Verstehe nicht, warum nicht. (I don't see why not.)" Shirosaki had replied, his grin perfectly placed on his face. Now that Ichigo had pondered it, he realized that the grin that both Shirosaki and the blue-haired blacksmith were prospects to match perfectly. The albino may even have beaten out Ichigo's long-time best friend.

Kurosaki nodded and motioned for the man to drop his sword from his belt. Almost instantly, the man had complied and set his new machinery on the ground next to him, and, with vigor as well as a thin line of stealth, set up in the defensive opposition. Ichigo saw few points he would be able to get through, but he knew he could reach them. The beautiful man's feet were placed perfectly, so Ichigo knew that he relied on stealth more than brute force, like plenty of others. That was good. He would make for an amazing guard if questioned.

With narrowed eyes and a trained offensive position, Ichigo shot in for the kill.

The first jab that Ichigo had tried was easily deflected with a jab coming back at him, which he had also stopped. The man was quick and his warriors knew quickly to back off of the scene to give the two more room, so the men had moved their horses backwards. Ichigo nodded back at them in a sign of approval and was almost caught off guard when a jab to the side came. He then cursed himself as the albino danced away, long, hip-length white hair flowing backwards as the band around his hair was loosened. A sharper grin danced along the albinos lips. Ichigo had also grinned.

The king, as his feet twisted and his hips jolted with undeniable speed, tried to play back and trick the man, but that little bit was reflected with a dance of his own. Ichigo made sure he paid close attention to the waist. No one could fake a waist – except himself, of course, and that was also proved when the orangette finally locked on the position Hichigo was going for. He wiped the hand that was heading for his side once more back at him, and, with the opening he was given, delivered a chop to the albinos covered upper thigh. The man howled and reeled back, but it was not a howl of anger or hurt. It was a howl of pure, sheer, _excitement. _

It was getting Ichigo excited as well.

A laugh passed the lips that belonged to the peachy-skinned orange-haired Lord. Shirosaki had also laughed and this time, got back into the offensive position, and this time, Ichigo in the defensive one. There were few mistakes in the offensive position. Not many openings whatsoever; Ichigo immediately realized that the man fought exactly like himself. This could go one forever, Ichigo thought, if something doesn't happen – soon.

When Shirosaki came after him, agility clear in his mind, Ichigo tried to sweep the feet out from under Shirosaki. The man jumped up and tried to give out a kick, but Ichigo had balance on his side and he parried the kick, deflecting it with his wrists. Before the foot could retreat, Ichigo grasped onto it and with the foot in hand he spun around, using the leg to throw the man over his shoulder.

Most men, of course, would fall in front of him and give out defeat, but Ichigo was proven wrong when Shirosaki caught himself with his hands, basically on a handstand in front of the king and twisted his other leg to make a blow to his head noticeable. Ichigo used one arm to ricochet it, and twitched when the powerful kick vibrated his hands. However that caused Ichigo to drop the foot in his other hand and sooner rather than later, Hichigo bounced back off to give the two warriors room.

Lord Kurosaki didn't give any time for rest and tried to dish a flying kick in the direction of the man, but it was also stopped by an arm. A jab that Ichigo was trying to land on the albino successfully did so, but it only nicked the man as he twisted out of the way. This time, Shirosaki stayed low and tried to aim for the knee, but that also only landed on the shin when Ichigo moved out of the way.

Ichigo was loving it. The breathing hard and the letting loose was exhilarating to him; the sweating and stares and the parries and just the joy of fighting was flitting throughout the very veins of the once cold orangette. He loved knowing that someone he just stumbled upon knew his way of fighting – very few knew that using instinct was the way to really win a fight. Everything was instinctive. Fighting, reflexes, blocking, everything relied on instinct. Well, maybe that what Ichigo thought, growing up much like the peasants roaming the streets, but it was the truth and that's what he would always stick by.

Many had tried to change his style of fighting, but when the instructors saw exactly how he fought they changed their mind and totally forgot about that, and instead learned from himself to make their own teaching styles better. But somehow this left Ichigo feeling empty and what he wanted something else – something different in a sense, and this man was _exactly_ what he wanted.

Ichigo backed off with the new hits directed in his way, twisting and turning, ducking and rolling all over the place to stop the onslaught. Like a mantra, the two fought in sync, one getting a hit then falling, and then the next, then moving and twisting and plenty of other things to relinquish their ways. Their eyes were keen to the others movements; unpredictable and unnoticeable to the untrained eyes.

The knights had an extremely hard time keeping up.

Shirosaki cackled and flinched as he took a direct hit to the shoulder blade, pushing it in a bit more than was needed. Kurosaki shivered at the sound – the attractive sound of bubbling laughter that sounded no short of insane. It was beautiful, like a bout of ringing bells that wouldn't stop – how they were unpredictable and made different noises whenever it felt like doing so. Shirosaki was sort of like a bell, Ichigo realized. Stationary yet moving all over the place, rough and brash but also noticeable and bright.

Ichigo had also received a bowing hit to the stomach, causing him to double over for a second. He regained his balance and this time, stared into the eyes of his attacker. The albino smirked and tilted his head to the side, his hair now falling in beautiful strands around his face. His hair band was left in an unknown place on the dirt ground now, but neither seemed to care all too much. "Not bad." Ichigo said after a moment. Shirosaki grinned.

"Nay, yer pretty talented as well." the pale-skinned fighter replied as he wiped some cold sweat off of his face.

"Shall we continue?"

"A' course."

~oOo~

About three bells later (30 minutes) the king and the albino man had been too tired to continue. They were both panting hard and their eyes were lazy, trying to catch each other's movements, so they both had decided to stop. It wouldn't do any justice to either of them if they just became so tired that their skills drastically decreased and their hits landed more often; they would end up dead and bleeding on the dusty street at any moment. And now, the two of them were sitting in the middle of the closest pub with a bottle of rum in each of their hands, laughs bubbling from their lips as the Unknown told the most ridiculous story of his life.

"An' then the knight was all like – you will never overcome me! I am the hand of _god!"_ The albino imitated with his hand throwing themselves up in the air, the rum sitting forgotten on the purest of mahogany wood. "An' then I stabbed the bastard right in the mouth. He was a Greek fountain fer a couple a minute's after his death, and all I did was laugh because of his wretched arse ego that was 'nough ta surround the whole entire damned castle!" Ichigo, by now, had tears streaming down his face because of how much he laughed during the story – Hichigo was animated when he was speaking about his travels and dramatic killings and some of his scars. Ichigo realized, however, right away when the man didn't even hint about the tri-scar running down his face. But it wasn't like he was going to ask, anyway.

"Do you know who sounds like that?" Ichigo questioned as he sipped on a pallet of rum, his lips quirking into a half-hearted smirk. Hichigo turned to him as he sipped on his own alcohol. A raised eyebrow was calmly noted by the orangette.

"Hm?" The Traveler had stated with a curved smirk. The King chuckled.

"Grimmjow. He has an ego large enough to fill a mug fit for a tosspot(3)." Ichigo watched with a calm interest as Hichigo threw his head back and cackled, the wonderful sound seeping into his clothing and invading his skin like a knife would against flesh.

"Ya got tha' righ', King. So, all jokin' aside, wha' didja call lil' ol' me out fer?"

Ichigo hummed softly as he took a sip, giving the albino a sidelong gaze through his lashes. Hichigo rebutted with a raise of his surprisingly thin, taint eyebrow. Ichigo licked his lips. "Hichigo, do you have a family?" He asked instead of the question he had been waiting long to ask.

Hichigo licked his lips and narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the King's face blankly. After a long second, he responded. "….Nay. Nay, I don't."

Ichigo tapped the mug as he glanced away, sending off a nod to the albino in sympathy. Hichigo grunted.

"….Is there anywhere in particular you were headed to?" Ichigo returned his gaze back to the Traveler. The albino's obsidian eyes were trained on him in something keen to confusion, maybe wariness. He was unable to tell.

"Mayhaps(4)." Hichigo swirled the mug around once and lifted it to his cleanly shaved face. Ichigo watched carefully as the man downed the last of his alcohol, before asking for another. The wench did so immediately. Once the rum was returned to Shirosaki, he turned to the king with a curious gaze. "I came passin' by 'ere lookin' fer work. I picked up assassination jobs along the way mostly to pay fer the food I couldn't hunt. My home had been raided an' I didn't live in the best'a villages." Hichigo left it at that.

Ichigo pondered this thought inside of his head as he took another sip of his rum. The cold metal hit his lips and he had to repress a shiver. If what the man had said was true, Hichigo was without a place to stay and without work. The chances were high, but even as a King he could be rejected with any request he had decided to give out. Somewhere inside of him told him he didn't want to be rejected by the strange man he had passed by, but if he never took any chances, the thoughts of being a King would roll out of the window.

King Kurosaki sighed and licked his lips, placing the mug on the wooden table. He swiveled his gaze to measure up Hichigo's.

"Other than me, I have never seen anyone with a fighting skill quite like yours. I believe I can distinguish styles fairly easily, and your one of the view I am unable to." Ichigo drawled slowly. He glanced at the wall straight away from the two of them. "Your skill is exceptional and your movements are precise, quick. You are as good, if not better, than me in battle, so, I have a request."

Hichigo cocked his head to the side in putrid confusion. "An' tha' may be?"

"If you are in need of work and, perchance, have no place to go, I want to offer you the request of becoming my personal guard."

_Chapter 1 – End_

Well guys, there you have it. Chapter one is completed and ready. xD I am a freak for anything Renaissance, and I thought it would be an amazing idea to go ahead and start up a series like this. Let's say, I got through about half of this almost five months ago, and I lost all inspiration of it – but thank the movie Black Death for spurring me back on. xD Nothing like watching a man get yanked in half by two horses on either side of him. Scared me twenty times out of my skin. xD

Anyway, thank you so much for the support on my other stories! I greatly appreciate it and to anyone new here, please enjoy. X3 It would be amazing to get to know you through a review or a PM, so please do leave a review, a fav, a follow, or a PM.

Goodnight. X3

Good Morrow – Good mornin', morning.

Grammarcy – Thank you.

Tosspot – Drunkard.

Mayhaps – By chance, Maybe.


	2. Gone

**EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ.**

Well, guys, I'm really, really, really sorry to say this but I'm abandoning all my stories until further notice. What I would like you guys to do however is vote on my poll for this matter at hand: Do you wish for someone else to take up my stories (if you want to, please PM me x3) or do you want to wait it out and see when\if I ever update them again? And, if I do continue updating, what top five stories do you wish me to cover?

This is going out on every one of my stories to see who will respond to my poll - please and thank you!

Once again, I'm horribly sorry, but I had a huge fallout with Bleach and I just can't get my interest back no matter how hard I try. xD I mean, GrimmIchi and Hichichi don't even appeal to me anymore when I used to obsess over it. So yeah, I'm really sorry. xD


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